Elevator systems are well known and in widespread use. Different buildings have differing service requirements. For example, some buildings are dedicated entirely to residences while others are dedicated entirely to offices or business use. Other buildings have different floors dedicated to different types of occupancy such as a mix of business and residential within the same building.
With different building types, there are different needs associated with providing elevator service at a level that is satisfactory to the building owner and occupants. There are various elevator control strategies that are known for addressing various traffic capacity conditions. Even with the various known approaches, there are needs for customized elevator system control.
One example situation includes allowing only certain individuals to have access to certain levels within a building, for example. In some situations, it is desirable to assign passengers to elevator cars so that passengers belonging to one group or category do not travel on the same elevator as passengers belonging to a different group or category where the building owner or occupants wish to keep certain passengers from traveling on an elevator together.
One example approach is based upon a zone control for keeping an elevator assigned to service one zone from being assigned to service another zone until that elevator car has completed servicing the one zone. That approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,025,180. While that approach provides a capability for controlling which passengers travel in an elevator car with other passengers, there are limitations such as a decrease in traffic handling capacity and efficiency. It would be useful to provide an enhanced system that satisfies the desire to keep certain passengers from traveling with certain others on the same elevator car without sacrificing traffic handling capacity and efficiency.